The head of the CBC will face tough questions about the future of the public broadcaster Wednesday, but Hubert Lacroix should also brace for a grilling about his own expense claims.
Lacroix recently repaid, and apologized for, about $30,000 in expense claims that violated CBC spending rules.
A Tory senator on the committee said Lacroix’s expense claims are fair game, as it also probes the CBC’s work on transparency and governance. Considering the bipartisan study of the CBC just launched, it’s likely that the committee will want to hear from Lacroix again in the coming months — including updates on expense claims.
He apologized for the claims during a Friday evening interview on the CBC political talk show Power and Politics.
“I find there’s a double standard in this case,” said Conservative Sen. Leo Housakos, who sits on the committee.
“An apology and returning the funds on behalf of some of my colleagues a few months ago wasn’t sufficient,” he said in a reference to three senators who were suspended last fall over questionable expense claims.
Read the full story.
cbcexposed is all about exposing the waste of the CBC ... over 1 billion dollars a year of taxpayer money funds the cbc and a lot of that taxpayer money is wasted.
CBC President Hubert Lacroix misled Parliament
At the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women, Hubert Lacroix President and CEO of the CBC misled Parliament when he said CBC does not tolerate discrimination, sexual or otherwise.
While the CBC president was minimizing complaints of CBC’s human rights abuse, CBC was paying over $60,000 in human rights legal fees. CBC wants to kill a three-year-long battle to keep a disabled journalist out of the PEI Legislature.
As Lacroix was testifying, CBC lawyers were fighting a Human Rights complaint on Prince Edward Island. His unconditional statement to Parliament was not true, in the common English a lie.
Lacroix knew, as he made those statements, that 4 of his PEI employees were involved in a case of human rights discrimination and that CBC had paid more than $60,000 in legal fees since 2010 to keep the matter out of the PEI Human Rights Commission.
Read the full story.
While the CBC president was minimizing complaints of CBC’s human rights abuse, CBC was paying over $60,000 in human rights legal fees. CBC wants to kill a three-year-long battle to keep a disabled journalist out of the PEI Legislature.
As Lacroix was testifying, CBC lawyers were fighting a Human Rights complaint on Prince Edward Island. His unconditional statement to Parliament was not true, in the common English a lie.
Lacroix knew, as he made those statements, that 4 of his PEI employees were involved in a case of human rights discrimination and that CBC had paid more than $60,000 in legal fees since 2010 to keep the matter out of the PEI Human Rights Commission.
Read the full story.
CBC President wrongly claimed expenses
The president of the CBC has repaid nearly $30,000 in living and meal expenses.
A story posted on the CBC's website Friday says Hubert Lacroix repaid the money last fall when an internal audit determined he had wrongly claimed the expenses.
The story said the expense claims date back to 2008 and were made despite the fact Lacroix negotiated a $1,500 per month living allowance when he decided not to move to Ottawa, where the CBC's head office is located.
Read the full story.
A story posted on the CBC's website Friday says Hubert Lacroix repaid the money last fall when an internal audit determined he had wrongly claimed the expenses.
The story said the expense claims date back to 2008 and were made despite the fact Lacroix negotiated a $1,500 per month living allowance when he decided not to move to Ottawa, where the CBC's head office is located.
Read the full story.
CBC Boss admits breaking rules
A day after Sun News host Brian Lilley reported that CBC President Hubert Lacroix repaid almost $30,000 in bogus travel claims, Lacroix admitted the claims were "clearly out of bounds."
"I take full responsibility for it because I'm the boss of CBC-Radio Canada," Lacroix said on-air on the state broadcaster on Friday.
Lilley reported last week that Lacroix quietly paid back $29,678.11 in inappropriate expenses last September for hotels, meals and other expenses for work at CBC headquarters in Ottawa - away from his Montreal home.
Lacroix also said he didn't feel he needed to make the repayment public until Friday.
"There was an error inside our shop," he said. "Everybody that had to know knew."
Read the full story.
"I take full responsibility for it because I'm the boss of CBC-Radio Canada," Lacroix said on-air on the state broadcaster on Friday.
Lilley reported last week that Lacroix quietly paid back $29,678.11 in inappropriate expenses last September for hotels, meals and other expenses for work at CBC headquarters in Ottawa - away from his Montreal home.
Lacroix also said he didn't feel he needed to make the repayment public until Friday.
"There was an error inside our shop," he said. "Everybody that had to know knew."
Read the full story.
CBC President Hubert Lacroix "embarrassed"
From his 2008 appointment until he became the focus of an internal audit, CBC president Hubert Lacroix claimed nearly $30,000 in improper expenses, the broadcaster revealed Friday.
“We’ve been reporting a lot on ineligible expense claims by public officials, now we have a story in our own backyard,” CBC reporter Rosemary Barton announced on a Friday broadcast of Power and Politics.
The CBC does not release the salaries of its top executives, but Mr. Lacroix is paid between $358,400 and $421,600 per year.
Read the full story.
“We’ve been reporting a lot on ineligible expense claims by public officials, now we have a story in our own backyard,” CBC reporter Rosemary Barton announced on a Friday broadcast of Power and Politics.
The CBC does not release the salaries of its top executives, but Mr. Lacroix is paid between $358,400 and $421,600 per year.
Read the full story.
CBC President Hubert Lacroix violates CBC’s own bylaws
Last summer, in the middle of a national uproar over the Senate expense scandal, CBC President Hubert Lacroix quietly paid back $29,678.11 in inappropriate expenses.
It seems that Lacroix was also double dipping when it came to having taxpayers foot the bill for his lifestyle.
Lacroix, a Montreal lawyer, chose not to move to Ottawa when he took the job of CBC president in October 2007. Instead he negotiated an extra $1,500 a month in after-tax income as a “living allowance” to be paid on top of his salary. Now we don’t know what Lacroix’s exact salary is because CBC refuses to say, but they do admit the range is between $350,000 and $421,000, not counting an annual six-figure bonus and other perks such as a car allowance and club memberships.
Yet somehow that wasn’t enough of your money so Lacroix ended up submitting expense claims for his trips to Ottawa even though that clearly violates CBC’s own bylaws.
Read the full story.
It seems that Lacroix was also double dipping when it came to having taxpayers foot the bill for his lifestyle.
Lacroix, a Montreal lawyer, chose not to move to Ottawa when he took the job of CBC president in October 2007. Instead he negotiated an extra $1,500 a month in after-tax income as a “living allowance” to be paid on top of his salary. Now we don’t know what Lacroix’s exact salary is because CBC refuses to say, but they do admit the range is between $350,000 and $421,000, not counting an annual six-figure bonus and other perks such as a car allowance and club memberships.
Yet somehow that wasn’t enough of your money so Lacroix ended up submitting expense claims for his trips to Ottawa even though that clearly violates CBC’s own bylaws.
Read the full story.
CBC tech contacts based in USA
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Tech contacts for Canada's NATIONAL Broadcaster ... tech contact based in the
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contact:
Name: Matt Serlin
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Boise ID 83709 United States
Phone: 1.2083895740
Fax: 1.2083895771
Email: ccops@markmonitor.com
Name: Matt Serlin
Postal address: Domain Provisioning, 10400 Overland Rd. PMB 155
Boise ID 83709 United States
Phone: 1.2083895740
Fax: 1.2083895771
Email: ccops@markmonitor.com
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Domain name: cbc.ca
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Domain status: registered
Creation date: 2000/10/16
Expiry date: 2014/11/24
Updated date: 2012/10/23
Technical
contact:
Name: Matt Serlin
Postal address: Domain Provisioning, 10400 Overland Rd. PMB 155
Boise ID 83709 United States
Phone: 1.2083895740
Fax: 1.2083895771
Email: ccops@markmonitor.com
Name: Matt Serlin
Postal address: Domain Provisioning, 10400 Overland Rd. PMB 155
Boise ID 83709 United States
Phone: 1.2083895740
Fax: 1.2083895771
Email: ccops@markmonitor.com
CBC threatening to sue federal government
When ordinary people think of suing the federal government, the fiscally prudent not only consider the odds of winning, but weigh the costs of spending obscene amounts to hire a crack legal team up to such a task.
But not the CBC.
The CBC is once again threatening to sue the federal government, which is its employer, and then have the federal government's employer, which is you, the taxpayer, pay its invoice.
Read the full story.
But not the CBC.
The CBC is once again threatening to sue the federal government, which is its employer, and then have the federal government's employer, which is you, the taxpayer, pay its invoice.
Read the full story.
CBC contributor argues broadcaster no longer necessary
Post Media columnist and CBC contributor Andrew Coyne argued the state broadcaster is no longer necessary in a multi-channel, digital universe and that all taxpayers are paying for something the majority don't watch or listen to.
Coyne told an overwhelmingly CBC-friendly crowd that today's viewers and listeners have a menu of pay-as-you-go options "to suit every taste, high or low, broad or narrow" that don't rely on scarce public funds.
"At a bare minimum, then, I would put the CBC on pay. It could still be a public broadcaster, but one funded by its audience, rather than taxpayers. If its viewers are as devoted as claimed, they should be happy to pay."
"That would be better for taxpayers, for viewers and, I'd argue, for the CBC itself."
Read the full story.
Coyne told an overwhelmingly CBC-friendly crowd that today's viewers and listeners have a menu of pay-as-you-go options "to suit every taste, high or low, broad or narrow" that don't rely on scarce public funds.
"At a bare minimum, then, I would put the CBC on pay. It could still be a public broadcaster, but one funded by its audience, rather than taxpayers. If its viewers are as devoted as claimed, they should be happy to pay."
"That would be better for taxpayers, for viewers and, I'd argue, for the CBC itself."
Read the full story.
CBC President sorry about confusion
Radio-Canada provoked a public backlash last week, and stinging criticism from politicians, the public and social media users after it announced it would rebrand itself as “ICI” (which in English means “here”).
CBC President Hubert Lacroix said Monday the Crown corporation was “sorry” about all of the “confusion” caused by its announcement and was “listening” to its public viewers and listeners.
Many were not impressed by the proposed changes and new logos, including NDP’s heritage critic Pierre Nantel and Conservative minister Moore, who questioned the decision to remove “Canada” from the broadcaster’s name.
The Crown corporation spent about $400,000 on two private firms for work on the “ICI” rebranding exercise, but said it believed this was a “reasonable figure.”
YOUR tax dollars at work!
Read the full story.
CBC President Hubert Lacroix said Monday the Crown corporation was “sorry” about all of the “confusion” caused by its announcement and was “listening” to its public viewers and listeners.
Many were not impressed by the proposed changes and new logos, including NDP’s heritage critic Pierre Nantel and Conservative minister Moore, who questioned the decision to remove “Canada” from the broadcaster’s name.
The Crown corporation spent about $400,000 on two private firms for work on the “ICI” rebranding exercise, but said it believed this was a “reasonable figure.”
YOUR tax dollars at work!
Read the full story.
CBC workers laid off while executives get bonuses
As CBC continues to cut jobs and cancel programs in the wake of budget cuts announced in March, the head honcho of the organization is defending big bonuses to senior ranks.
CBC president Hubert Lacroix was questioned recently about bonuses for top executives, which in recent years have totalled between $775,000 and just under $1 million for the 10 to 12 most senior people.
CBC refuses to say how much each executive received but did reveal that the top bonus for fiscal 2008-09 was $165,090 or 3.5 times the average income of a full-time Canadian worker.
That bonus was also paid out at a time when CBC was having to layoff hundreds of workers to deal with the global recession.
The CBC receives $100 million per month of Canadian taxpayer money. YOUR tax dollars at work.
Read the full story.
CBC president Hubert Lacroix was questioned recently about bonuses for top executives, which in recent years have totalled between $775,000 and just under $1 million for the 10 to 12 most senior people.
CBC refuses to say how much each executive received but did reveal that the top bonus for fiscal 2008-09 was $165,090 or 3.5 times the average income of a full-time Canadian worker.
That bonus was also paid out at a time when CBC was having to layoff hundreds of workers to deal with the global recession.
The CBC receives $100 million per month of Canadian taxpayer money. YOUR tax dollars at work.
Read the full story.
Shadow cast over CBC Olympic Reporting
As the official Canadian broadcaster of the Sochi Games, the CBC agreed to stop streaming all of its Radio 1 programming outside of Canada. All of it – not just its live Olympics coverage. Anyone outside the country (including Canadian expats) who tunes in hears the following:
“Between February 6th and 23rd, CBC Radio 1 live streams will only be available to Canadian audiences due to Olympic rights restrictions. However, our listeners outside Canada can still hear the favourite shows on demand by visiting cbc.ca/radio, or by downloading the CBC Radio app and following the links to their favourite programs.”
The CBC is being a bit misleading in that last sentence. Because their newscasts contain reports about the Olympics, they’ve stopped producing news podcasts for the duration of the games.
Let that sink in for a moment. The CBC has effectively turned over decisions about how its news and entire Radio 1 network will be distributed to the International Olympic Committee, which controls the rights to the Olympics.
This move casts a shadow over all of the CBC’s Olympics reporting.
Read the full story.
“Between February 6th and 23rd, CBC Radio 1 live streams will only be available to Canadian audiences due to Olympic rights restrictions. However, our listeners outside Canada can still hear the favourite shows on demand by visiting cbc.ca/radio, or by downloading the CBC Radio app and following the links to their favourite programs.”
The CBC is being a bit misleading in that last sentence. Because their newscasts contain reports about the Olympics, they’ve stopped producing news podcasts for the duration of the games.
Let that sink in for a moment. The CBC has effectively turned over decisions about how its news and entire Radio 1 network will be distributed to the International Olympic Committee, which controls the rights to the Olympics.
This move casts a shadow over all of the CBC’s Olympics reporting.
Read the full story.
CBC employees paid 39% more than the average Canadian
CBC employees earn on average 39% more than the average Canadian, according to information obtained through access to information from the state broadcaster.
An access request to CBC in 2007 asked the broadcaster to release how much money was spent in several areas, including salaries, equipment, programming, and the total cost of producing news and travel expenses.
Questions on equipment purchases, travel and programming went unanswered.
On the salary side, CBC spent $507,290,389 on salaries for full-time, temporary and contract personnel.
Full-time employees at CBC earned an average of $55,712 in 2007, compared to an annual income of $40,092 for employed Canadians - meaning CBC employees were paid 39% more than the average Canadian.
CBC receives $100 million per month of Canadian taxpayer money. Your tax dollars at work.
Read the full story.
An access request to CBC in 2007 asked the broadcaster to release how much money was spent in several areas, including salaries, equipment, programming, and the total cost of producing news and travel expenses.
Questions on equipment purchases, travel and programming went unanswered.
On the salary side, CBC spent $507,290,389 on salaries for full-time, temporary and contract personnel.
Full-time employees at CBC earned an average of $55,712 in 2007, compared to an annual income of $40,092 for employed Canadians - meaning CBC employees were paid 39% more than the average Canadian.
CBC receives $100 million per month of Canadian taxpayer money. Your tax dollars at work.
Read the full story.
The CBC is throwing a tantrum — using your tax dollars
The CBC is throwing a tantrum — using your tax dollars.
They had a lawyer send a letter to us here at the Sun, complaining because we criticize their wasteful spending, their lack of accountability, and their bizarre broadcasting decisions, like their big foray into Internet porn.
The CBC lawyer was really mad because on the Sun News Network, we showed a video of one of their senior executives, Kirstine Stewart, alongside a video of a France-produced porn show on CBC's new online channel.
Here's a quote from their letter: "Placing Ms. Stewart on the same screen as graphic sex scenes is indefensible morally and legally."
Just to be clear, the graphic sex scene their lawyer referred to was from a program on a CBC website. But to show that program, associated with a CBC executive, is apparently illegal and immoral in their eyes.
Read the full story.
They had a lawyer send a letter to us here at the Sun, complaining because we criticize their wasteful spending, their lack of accountability, and their bizarre broadcasting decisions, like their big foray into Internet porn.
The CBC lawyer was really mad because on the Sun News Network, we showed a video of one of their senior executives, Kirstine Stewart, alongside a video of a France-produced porn show on CBC's new online channel.
Here's a quote from their letter: "Placing Ms. Stewart on the same screen as graphic sex scenes is indefensible morally and legally."
Just to be clear, the graphic sex scene their lawyer referred to was from a program on a CBC website. But to show that program, associated with a CBC executive, is apparently illegal and immoral in their eyes.
Read the full story.
How much did CBC pay to broadcast the Olympics?
If you've recently watched CBC, you've probably noticed that they're going all-out for their Olympic coverage.
They've already set-up in Sochi with beautiful sets, impressive technology and a large cast of journalists including the likes of Peter Mansbridge and Jian Gomeshi.
But if you're hoping to know how much our national broadcaster is paying for the privilege to show the games, you're out of luck.
The intrepid reporters at Global News put in a Freedom of Information request asking for the total cost of buying the rights to the games.
What they got back were 162 heavily redacted pages including a brief explanation of why they wouldn't share the information.
"As a steward of taxpayer dollars," Conservative MP Harold Albrecht said, "it’s hard for me to support calls for increased funding for the CBC when they make it impossible to understand how the billion dollars a year in taxpayer support they already receive each year is spent."
Independent MP Dean Del Mastro said that Canadians should have access to more information about CBC's finances.
Read the full story.
They've already set-up in Sochi with beautiful sets, impressive technology and a large cast of journalists including the likes of Peter Mansbridge and Jian Gomeshi.
But if you're hoping to know how much our national broadcaster is paying for the privilege to show the games, you're out of luck.
The intrepid reporters at Global News put in a Freedom of Information request asking for the total cost of buying the rights to the games.
What they got back were 162 heavily redacted pages including a brief explanation of why they wouldn't share the information.
"As a steward of taxpayer dollars," Conservative MP Harold Albrecht said, "it’s hard for me to support calls for increased funding for the CBC when they make it impossible to understand how the billion dollars a year in taxpayer support they already receive each year is spent."
Independent MP Dean Del Mastro said that Canadians should have access to more information about CBC's finances.
Read the full story.
CBC memo to employees: "significant financial challenges"
An internal memo to CBC employees warns of "dark clouds on the horizon" for the state broadcaster, QMI Agency has learned.
CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix sent the ominous note last Friday.
"On Monday, I informed the board that we are projecting significant financial challenges," Lacroix told staffers.
He warned that a weak advertising market, low TV ratings among 25-54-year-olds and the loss of the NHL contract "have combined to create an important revenue shortfall for the whole of CBC/Radio-Canada."
Despite receiving more than $1 billion from taxpayers, Lacroix says that's not enough.
Read the full story.
CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix sent the ominous note last Friday.
"On Monday, I informed the board that we are projecting significant financial challenges," Lacroix told staffers.
He warned that a weak advertising market, low TV ratings among 25-54-year-olds and the loss of the NHL contract "have combined to create an important revenue shortfall for the whole of CBC/Radio-Canada."
Despite receiving more than $1 billion from taxpayers, Lacroix says that's not enough.
Read the full story.
CBC's Hubert Lacroix: “dark clouds on the horizon”
As backers of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) struggled on Tuesday to convince a Senate committee that public backing of the broadcaster is crucial to the country, an internal memo from the broadcaster warned its future is in jeopardy.
The memo from CBC president Hubert Lacroix, obtained by Sun News, warns of “dark clouds on the horizon” as the broadcaster faces financial problems due to low ratings — a situation made worse by the CBC's loss last year of the NHL broadcast contract to Rogers.
"On Monday, I informed the board that we are projecting significant financial challenges," Lacroix told staffers, as quoted by Sun.
Read the full story.
The memo from CBC president Hubert Lacroix, obtained by Sun News, warns of “dark clouds on the horizon” as the broadcaster faces financial problems due to low ratings — a situation made worse by the CBC's loss last year of the NHL broadcast contract to Rogers.
"On Monday, I informed the board that we are projecting significant financial challenges," Lacroix told staffers, as quoted by Sun.
Read the full story.
CBC Hubert Lacroix: “only a judge can tell me what to release”
We’ve also told you about CBC refusing to release details on how they spend that $1.1 billion that they get from you and I.
We’ve asked for information on how much we pay for absenteeism, how much CBC spent on finding a new theme song for Hockey Night in Canada, even what we will pay for the 75th anniversary party they are planning.
We know that they are spending because we can see ads like this one from the Globe and Mail, ads that run at the same time as the glowing articles on how great CBC, the biggest customer of a Globe owned business, really is.
But while you are told to pay for the party, CBC and their president Hubert Lacroix, say they are under no obligation to release costs.
But while Hubert “only a judge can tell me what to release” Lacroix won’t respond through official channels, he will respond to angry emails which call him Herbert and accuse CBC of acting inappropriately.
Read the full story.
We’ve asked for information on how much we pay for absenteeism, how much CBC spent on finding a new theme song for Hockey Night in Canada, even what we will pay for the 75th anniversary party they are planning.
We know that they are spending because we can see ads like this one from the Globe and Mail, ads that run at the same time as the glowing articles on how great CBC, the biggest customer of a Globe owned business, really is.
But while you are told to pay for the party, CBC and their president Hubert Lacroix, say they are under no obligation to release costs.
But while Hubert “only a judge can tell me what to release” Lacroix won’t respond through official channels, he will respond to angry emails which call him Herbert and accuse CBC of acting inappropriately.
Read the full story.
Should the CBC be privatized? Vote today ...
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